It was exactly one month ago today that we did our first assessment of planning progress. Let's check in again...
January
- Finish engagement announcements to those who don’t already know
Done. Save-the-dates are out, e-mail contact lists are built.
Saturday, June 25th. Emmett and Kerstin's for the ceremony. The Historical Society for the reception.
Done, though we add one or two at a time. If every single human we invited were to arrive, and brought all the kids they were eligible to bring, we'd be at 224. As I noted yesterday, my current raffle guess is 146 in the end.
I feel kind of silly. Back in November when Nora and I first started talking about this, she said, "I just want a potluck with friends and family." Now we've hired the Cirque du Soliel and the Chinese Acrobats and the synchronized performing dogs, found an origami consulting team who will fold the napkins, hired the roadies for Van Halen to do the lighting, and bought a hothouse to raise the orchids. Well, not quite, but it's somewhere between that kind of production and the original potluck.
- Choose wedding colors (for tables, flowers, etc.)
This one is back on the list!! The bride may not be wearing white, but the tables will be.
- Choose bridesmaid and best man
Still haven't done the ceremony, so don't yet know if this is necessary.
January's lookin' pretty good, innit?
February
Done. The inimitable Nelson Jaquay.
Aside from us, that is... There's some bizarre protocol about the best man giving the first toast prior to dinner. But then, I discovered
groom's cake yesterday, too, so there are no end to the bizarre protocols we could adopt. ("Groom's cake:" pre-boxed slices of cake given only to the single women in attendance; if they put it under their pillow, they'll dream of the man they'll marry. He'll probably be sticky and smell like smushed cake... Who thinks this stuff up??)
- Select and order wedding rings
Tomorrow!!! Tomorrow!!! Wedding rings in our possession tomorrow!!!
- Create gift registries and so on
Nora suggested that we ask people to give of themselves—painters doing paintings, writers doing writing, etc. But then we read about a couple who received a DVD of homemade porn from their best man and his partner, and we thought, "maybe we need to be more specific about this..." So more specificity to come soon.
- Create wedding invitations
Tentative plans in place for this. The actual mailing won't be for another six weeks or so.
- Think about hotel rooms or other lodging for out-of-town guests
The list is down the right edge of this blog.
- Think about transportation to and from airports, train depots, and hotels for those guests
The Quartermaster has this under control.
So February's in pretty good shape too! Amazing!
March
- Arrange for wedding photographer.
Still combing the mental list here.
- Think about music for the reception.
We have a musician in mind for the ceremony itself, though she doesn't know it yet. I think she'll be pleased when she learns... But we haven't gotten a handle on the reception. Peter Gabriel will be on a tour in London, I think, so he's out. Pat Metheny seems to have some time between Korea and Germany around the date of the wedding, so maybe I'll call him.
- Design ceremony and vows.
We're reading some wonderful material that Nelson has loaned to us, and having fun ideas. But we still don't even know if there'll be an aisle, much less who'll be walking down it and in what sequence. Nobody's "giving the bride away;" she's in full possession of her own self. So we'll have different metaphors for the day, which will lead to different ceremonial choices.
March isn't going too badly. And we're already dipping into tasks for April (choosing flowers, reserving tents and chairs) and May (planning the rehearsal dinner). I have a temporary and illusory sense of control. Ahhhhh...
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